Update: I ended up getting the beta and I played the first few single player mission. My only gripe so far is that the default ship turns too slow in the single player combat. I might upload a video of the standard beta when it comes out.

Quote: "This is your throttle, see that little blue indicator on the throttle? Well that's your turning sweet spot, when your in a dogfight and you need to do some tight banking or turning moves, make sure your throttle is in the blue and you'll turn at least 50% more effectively - this is reallllllyyyyyyy important for battles. Thanks to Xzanron for this image on the forums. The "What is this?" part indicates the available power/throttle range. Can't push the throttle further than the length of that line.

A couple of weeks ago, I got an unexpected royalty check from Amazon and decided to splurge on the premium beta of Elite: Dangerous.

I'm really glad I did! E: D is a fantastic vertical slice of some key elements of the final product. I've wanted a game like this for twenty years and so far it's exceeded my expectations in every way. I love the ship designs. The cockpit controls are elegant, well-thought out, and not over-designed.

The spaceship flight model isn't realistic from a hard SF standpoint, but it really is a ton of fun. Not since X-Wing/TIE Fighter have I enjoyed space combat so much. And I was a little worried about the return to roll/pitch style of control, because I never felt comfortable with it in the original Elite. (Frontier and First Encounters had yaw/pitch control, but I never really got good at combat in those games either...just sprayed and prayed.) Fortunately, though, I find the new Elite's controls really satisfying and fit nicely with my aerial dogfighting skills. Haven't tried SC yet, but I like Elite's in-your-face style a lot.

For comparison, Star Citizen's space combat is *marginally* more realistic, but the downside is the combat range is much farther, and so you're really just putting colored dots on top of each other and squeezing the trigger.

(Absolutely realistic space combat might be unplayably abstract and far beyond the ability of the human nervous system to deal with, with velocities measured in km/sec and target ranges of thousands of kilometers or more. I doubt it would make for a very satisfying MMO experiencel.)

Sitting on my pad in a station, watching the other craft go about their business, is really wonderful. The fact that the experience feels so novel makes me aware of how neglected the space game genre has been, and how it can really shine with the current graphics.

I also ordered premium beta couple days ago. I really hope SE gets a) spacecraft shadows and b) rings with asteroid field like E: D . I was playing ED in multiplayer a few days ago when I arrived at a beautiful gas giant with rings only to get blown by a pirate as I was approaching the spaceport. I don't know if it was human or AI but after a few hrs of playing I was really annoyed by this. Thats why I hope SE implement the graphic elements from ED that are missing from it: mainly shadows and rings composed of asteroid fields (of course many other such as speed indicators like in ED supercruise mode, reentry effects, solar prominences&flares ). Now that graphics quality is approaching reality there is so much to see - why waste time trying to kill each other?

n0b0dy, you right, i am will be more explorer in the game then killer...if you kill someone real its evil! after he buy the ship and play alot of time to get all his money...i will try not to do that! there will be 400b stars in the game so yes, there is alot to see and i even saw in the galaxy map in the game black holes!!!

you can see if this npc or real human near the halo . if this real human its will say: cmdr...(name)

Added (30.07.2014, 17:58) --------------------------------------------- who is in the elite beta? want to be group? (friends) in the game?

I won't be able to make a video anytime this week, but Elite has been a great experience so far. Even with only 55 systems and no atmospheric flight it is immersive and well made. I am currently on my way to Wyrd but stopped at Olivaw's Settlement for fuel and repairs. I have a hit man contract in Wyrd.

I mean come on people; we all know SE 135.7 will simulate the physical interactions between all particles (i.e, waves) and forces) in the entire universe, and also it will be infinite and (challenge!) you can find your own doppelganger. So why buy a smaller game now when you can wait 76 years for SEC (SpaceEngine Corporation) to release a better version!